Technical Report: A Receding Horizon Algorithm for Informative Path Planning with Temporal Logic Constraints

TL;DR

This paper introduces a receding horizon algorithm for planning informative paths for sensing robots under complex temporal logic constraints, combining information theory and formal control synthesis for reactive, on-line solutions.

Contribution

It presents a novel receding horizon algorithm that ensures temporal logic constraints are satisfied while optimizing information gathering in a computationally efficient manner.

Findings

Algorithm outperforms baseline exhaustive search in simulations.

Provides reactive, on-line path planning under complex constraints.

Ensures paths satisfy temporal logic constraints.

Abstract

This technical report is an extended version of the paper 'A Receding Horizon Algorithm for Informative Path Planning with Temporal Logic Constraints' accepted to the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). This paper considers the problem of finding the most informative path for a sensing robot under temporal logic constraints, a richer set of constraints than have previously been considered in information gathering. An algorithm for informative path planning is presented that leverages tools from information theory and formal control synthesis, and is proven to give a path that satisfies the given temporal logic constraints. The algorithm uses a receding horizon approach in order to provide a reactive, on-line solution while mitigating computational complexity. Statistics compiled from multiple simulation studies indicate that this algorithm performs better than a baseline exhaustive search approach.